After missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last year, the Vegas Golden Knights celebrated winning the Pacific Division title but are already looking ahead to the postseason.
“I’m definitely proud of the group, the way they handled that, and coming back this year, they played a lot of good hockey,” Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez said. “But again, everything with a caveat: we haven’t won anything yet.”
Martinez broke a tie midway through the second period, helping the Golden Knights secure a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken in the regular-season finale Thursday night, clinching their third Pacific Division title.
Vegas finished with a record of 51-22-9 and 111 points, tying the franchise record for victories. The Golden Knights held off Edmonton’s late surge to win the division and clinch home-ice advantage in the Western Conference. They will face Winnipeg in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“We won all we could win in terms of the regular season,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We got the division crown, which was well earned. Edmonton has been charging hard coming out of the break like us. All the teams around us were playing well. And then you get the conference, which is nice too.”
Martinez’s goal at 12:37 of the second period came during a delayed penalty against Seattle. He swatted a rebound past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer for his third goal of the season, which was undoubtedly the most important.
Reilly Smith also scored for Vegas on what technically was its first shot of the game, as Vince Dunn’s pass from behind the Seattle goal bounced off Smith’s skate and slipped past Grubauer nearly 10 minutes into the first period. Chandler Stephenson added an empty-net goal from his own zone with 38 seconds left.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I don’t think this should be understated. Make sure that we at least take a day to celebrate it,” Smith said.
Jaden Schwartz scored his 21st of the season for Seattle’s only goal on a night the Kraken dominated chances but couldn’t convert. Matty Beniers and Adam Larsson both hit posts, and Daniel Sprong was stuffed on a breakaway by Laurent Brossoit, who made 31 saves.
Seattle (46-28-8, 100 points) entered the finale with an outside shot of catching Los Angeles for third in the Pacific Division. However, the Kings won their game against Anaheim, and the Kraken had to settle for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
“We played pretty damn hard. We had some good looks,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “I thought we could have created a little more, mostly in the third period. I thought we worked really hard offensively. We generated enough.”
Seattle will have to wait until Friday night to learn its playoff opponent. Depending on the outcome of Friday’s game between the Avalanche and Predators in Nashville, the Kraken will face either Colorado or Dallas.
“Now the fun starts. This is why we play 82 games, and this is why we grind throughout the year to give yourself an opportunity,” Schwartz said.
MR. 82 AGAIN
Phil Kessel appeared in his NHL-record 1,064th consecutive game and played in 82 games for the 11th time in his career. Brayden McNabb and William Karlsson also appeared in all 82 games this season for Vegas. Ivan Barbashev played his 82nd game, with the first 59 for St. Louis.
Larsson was one of five Kraken players to appear in all 82 games and is the only one to play in every game in the franchise’s first two seasons. Will Borgen, Jordan Eberle, Brandon Tanev, and Alex Wennberg also appeared in every game this season.
WELCOME BACK
Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore both returned to Vegas. Eichel had missed two straight games, while Theodore had missed the previous seven.
UP NEXT
- Golden Knights: Will face Winnipeg in Game 1 next Tuesday. Vegas was 3-0-0 against the Jets this season.
- Kraken: Seattle will play Game 1 at Dallas next Monday or Colorado next Tuesday, depending on Friday’s result.